‘Those who trust in the Lord... cannot be moved...’. When we
put our trust in the Lord, we are like the ‘wise man who built his
house on the rock’. His house ‘did not fall because it had its
foundation on the rock’. When we do not put our trust in the Lord, we
are like ‘the foolish man who built his house on sand’. His house ‘fell
with a great crash’. ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders
labour in vain’ (Psalm 125:1; Psalm 127:1; Matthew 7:24-27). ‘Jesus
Christ’ is the ‘sure Foundation’ upon which our faith is built. He is
‘the solid Rock’, our ‘mighty Rock of spiritual refreshment’ (1
Corinthians 3:11; 10:3-4; Church Hymnary, 10,411). ‘Christ died
for our sins... He was raised on the third day’. Let us rejoice in Him:
‘The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy’
(Psalm 126:3; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
The question of universalism in Barth’s theology has been raised directly by J D Bettis in his article, “Is Karl Barth a Universalist?” (Scottish Journal of Theology, Vol. 20, No. 4, December 1967, pp. 423-436). This article requires to be carefully discussed not only for its significance as an interpretation of Barth’s thought but also because it presents a serious misrepresentation of Berkouwer’s criticism of Barth. Bettis writes, “Modern protestant theology has defined three basic answers to the question of the particularity of election: double predestination, Arminianism and universalism” (p. 423). By attempting to fit Berkouwer into “this structure of alternatives” (p. 423), he misrepresents completely Berkouwer’s criticism of Barth. According to Bettis, Brunner and Berkouwrer hold that “because Barth fails to accept either Brunner’s Arminianism or Berkouwer's double decree, he must be a universalist” (p. 426). There are two misrepresentations of Berkouwer here. (...
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